Flyers’ Gritty bobbles on to success in bobblehead game
Gritty, the high-energy, orange fuzzball mascot for the Philadelphia Flyers, is proving to be one of the top sellers in one faction of the merchandising market.
The National Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museum announced last week the release or pre-order of four new officially licensed bobbleheads featuring Gritty, adding on to the mascot’s product line that has been selling out since the first model was released in the fall.
The newest models include the limited edition Gritty St. Patrick’s Day Bobblehead which is on sale now for $30. Only 500 of this model will be sold. Available for pre-order are
1,000 Gritty Boxing Ring Bobbleheads which will ship in July.
Two of the biggest additions to the Gritty line are
3-foot bobbleheads that will sell for $800 each. The first of these large-scale bobbleheads features Gritty wearing the Flyers jersey and only 10 of these are available. The second bobblehead features Gritty holding a cheesesteak and soft pretzel.
FOCO produced three of these bobbleheads for the bobblehead hall of fame with Kollecitco producing the three-foot model featuring the cheesesteak and pretzel.
According to the National Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museum Co-Founder and CEO Phil Sklar, Gritty’s bobbleheads have become some of the most popular for the hockey merchandise ever offered by the organization.
“The excitement for Gritty and his bobbleheads has been phenomenal, and in just five months since his October 2018 debut, Gritty has had more bobbleheads than several NHL mascots have had in their long lives,” said Sklar in a press release announcing the new bobbleheads, “It’s been fun to see fans reactions to Gritty and his bobbleheads, and we think fans will love these new ones”
Sklar said he was surprised by the support for Gritty.
“I don’t think anyone in their right mind could have possibly predicted the overall reaction to Gritty — from the initial reaction that you mentioned (of fans saying ‘what the hell is this?’) to becoming the Kardashians of mascots!” he said.
The first Gritty bobblehead, with him wearing an orange Flyers jersey released in late September, sold out quickly and a second edition featuring a black jersey is still on pre-sale and ships in July. Two of three specialedition bobbleheads released in November have sold out (one featuring Gritty swinging on a wrecking ball and another with the Liberty Bell).
Sklar said more models are in various phases of production.
“I know Gritty’s fans aren’t going to have a shortage of really fun bobbleheads to add to their collections in the coming months and years from what I’ve heard is in the pipeline!” he added.
All available Gritty bobbleheads can be purchased at www.BobbleheadHall.com.